Polymers and copolymers of, and absorbable surgical devices made from, lactide and/or glycolide and releated compounds are well-known. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,668,162, 2,703,316, 2,758,987, 3,225,766, 3,297,033, 3,422,181, 3,531,561, 3,565,869, 3,620,218, 3,626,948, 3,636,956, 3,736,646, 3,772,420, 3,773,919, 3,792,010, 3,797,499, 3,839,297, 3,867,190, 3,878,284, 3,982,543, 4,060,089, 4,137,921, 4,157,437, 4,243,775, 4,273,920, and 4,300,565, U.K. Pat. No. 779,291, D. K. Gilding et al., "Biodegradable polymers for use in surgery--polyglycolic/poly(lactic acid) homo- and copolymers: 1, "Polymer, Volume 20 pages 1459-1464 (1979), and D. F. Williams (ed.), Biocompatibility of Clinical Implant Materials, Vol. II, ch. 9: "Biodegradable Polymers" (1981).
Some of those documents disclose purifying the polymer(s) or copolymer(s) by drying and/or removing unreacted monomer(s). See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,225,766, 3,422,181, 3,565,869, 3,626,948, 3,636,956, 3,772,420, 3,773,919, 4,273,920, and 4,300,565, U.K. Pat. No. 779,291, and Gilding et al. Some of those documents disclose copolymers of lactide and glycolide containing fifteen or more mole percent glycolide. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,668,162, 2,703,316, 3,297,033, 3,620,218, 3,636,956, 3,736,646, 3,773,919, 3,797,499, 3,839,297, 3,867,190, 3,982,543, and 4,273,920, Gilding et al., and Williams.
Current publicly available information indicates that those skilled in the art believe lactide/glycolide copolymers used for making surgical fasteners should be crystalline, for example, so that such fasteners can retain their strength in vivo for a sufficient amount of time. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,758,987, column 1, lines 47--51; 3,636,956, column 4, lines 2-12; and Gilding, page 1463.